CAPITAL FOR AUSTRALIA

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19701, 5 August 1938, Page 8

CAPITAL FOR AUSTRALIA

' MONEY FROWI N.Z. INVESTORS UNEASY SIR G. MARK'S OPINION That New Zealand capital in considerable quantities has gone to Australia recently because of investors' uneasiness over the socialistic trend of legislation in New Zealand and the Government's heavy expenditure programme is the general talk in Australian commercial circles, according to Sir Charles Marr, of Sydney, representative for Sydney West Suburbs in the Federal Parliament, and an ex-Ca'binet Minister, who arrived at Wellington this week.

Sir Charles added that he knew of two Australian firms which had between them withdrawn from New Zea-

land investments amoun'ting to threequarters of a million. The money had since been invested in Sydney.

"There is no doubt in my mind that New Zealand and Australia should be much closer together commercially," said Sir Charles, when interviewed in Wellington. "For instance, the embargo on New Zealand potatoes entering Australia and the similar prohibition of Australian citrus fruits here is simply childish." Sir Charles, who held the portfolio of Public Works in the Federal Cabinet, considers that much of the public works expenditure in 'New Zealand is sheer waste of money. He said that he would except .expenditure on roads because good communications were of the greatest possible value. Several previous visits to the Dominion have been made by Sir Charles, 'but usually he has landed at Auckland. He said that each time he came to this country he noted an improvement in the highways, but his impression was that there was not enough supervision over the men on road works. One gained the impression that with Labour in power these men considered that they owned the Government, he added.